


Time is Broken

by Bookwormscififan



Category: jacksepticeye
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22081381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookwormscififan/pseuds/Bookwormscififan
Summary: JJ can't sleep and goes downstairs, only to see that his past self is standing in the mirror. Everybody then has to work together to fix this issue.
Relationships: platonic JSE egos
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	Time is Broken

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate characters (past versions) are referred to by their surname, so Brody for Chase and Jackson for JJ.

12:38 am.

Jameson shook his head and put his watch back into his pocket. _Go for a walk if you can’t sleep. Isn’t that what the Doc said once?_ He climbed out of bed and ran a hand through his dark hair.

The silence made it hard to sleep. _How ironic. A mute, cannot sleep if there’s silence._ He chuckled to himself, a quiet release of breath heard only by him.

Leaving the room, the sounds of others sleeping greeted him. Chase, next door, still sobbing silently over Stacey’s departure. Robbie, across the hall, groaning as he rested. He could hear Anti at the end of the hall, the stuttering, crackling breathing a consequence of his slit neck. Schneep’s snores could be heard from the room beside Anti’s, and Marvin’s quiet murmurs were heard near the stairs. Jack’s hushed voice recording new videos sounded from beside Chase’s room. Jameson stepped toward Jackie’s door and felt a draft from under it. _Out saving people again._

He climbed down the stairs, feet light and shoeless. Passing the mirror, he paused. _What was that?_ He walked back to the mirror and peered at his reflection. Blue eyes peered back at him, but… something was off.

_Hair._ He reached up to touch his hair, and the reflection followed, touching blue hair. Confused, JJ shook his head and looked again. Still blue hair on the reflection’s head. _But… why? What’s happening?_ He watched in amazement as the reflection began to move, sluggish, as though just waking up. He stepped back as the reflection moved forward, then…

KNOCK, KNOCK.

JJ started. What was that? _Are the others awake?_ He turned around, peering up the stairs to check the others were still asleep. No movement up there.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

This time, he was certain it came from the mirror. He stood in front of it, and saw the reflection closer to the surface. Hands against the glass, it looked terrified. JJ stepped closer, and reflection pointed to the hall table on his left.

Looking over, he saw his notepad and pen, the one he used to talk to the others. He picked it up and wrote out a small question.

**What’s going on?**

The reflection wrote on the mirror notepad, then showed it to him.

**_I do not know. My pocket watch is broken. What is the time?_ **

JJ glanced at his watch again. 12:58 am. He wrote it down and showed the other. Confusion crossed his features as the reflection asked him the year.

**2018\. When are you?**

The reflection paused a moment before writing on his pad.

**_You would recognise me. I am you, from 2017._ **

JJ paused, shocked and confused. He signed to his alter to wait, then dashed upstairs.

Chase Brody, Average Bro. Knock before you enter, or make noise.

JJ paused before knocking. Normally he would turn to Robbie, but he knew the zombie enjoyed a second time to rest. Chase was the dad of the family, making sure everybody was well and good before he was.

“Mmh, who is it?” Chase’s slurred and sleepy voice could be heard behind the door. Tapping his initials out onto the door in Morse code, he waited for Chase to invite him in.

“James? Are you alright? Come in, and turn the light on.” Taking a breath, JJ opened the door, flicking the switch as he entered.

The smell of whiskey hung thick in the air, and Chase’s puffy, red eyes peered at him from under the doona. He attempted to sit up, but his hand slipped off the mattress. JJ hurried to help him, brushing the hair from his forehead like a loving brother.

“I went for a walk, as the Doc told me to do, because I couldn’t sleep. When I went downstairs, my reflection in the mirror was from the past. I think there’s a problem with time, Chase.” JJ signed hurriedly, making sure to be as detailed as possible.

Chase’s eyes went from small to large as he interpreted the signs.

“Time? As in, years and dates? Jameson, you know that can’t be possible, right?” JJ rolled his eyes and continued to sign.

“Chase, I am from Chaplin’s time. Jack and I managed to bring myself here. I do not understand how you can now say there is no possibility of time changing.”

Chase sighed, shaking his head. Sweeping his hair back, he reached for his signature cap.

“Alright, James. Show me the past you in the mirror.”

JJ’s reflection was still there, waiting. When they reached the mirror, Chase inhaled sharply, seeing past JJ looking confused.

“James, you were right,” he breathed, stepping closer to the mirror’s surface.

As his hand reached to touch the surface of the mirror, Chase suddenly jumped back, seeing another figure behind Jackson. Blue eyes stared at Chase from under yellow locks and a famous hat.

“Who are you, and why are you here? Am I dreaming?” JJ placed his hand on Chase, an attempt to assure him he was awake.

“Jesus, dude. How can you forget about me? And why would you ask if you’re dreaming?” The reflection finally moved from behind Jackson, clutching the Nerf gun he was known for defensively. The reflection quickly signed to him, telling him it was Chase from the future.

“Yeah, right. Jameson, you know past can’t see future, right? I know you’re an exception, but I can’t be seeing a version of me from the future.” Slowly, he turned to look at Chase.

“If you’re from the future, tell me something. Have you made amends with Stacey yet?” JJ felt Chase stiffen, then relax.

“Stacey is still staying at her sister’s. I haven’t seen the kids for seventeen months.” A sour chuckle sounded from Brody. Chase clenched his fist slightly, offended at Brody’s humour.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you had worked harder for her, Brody. Maybe the kids would still be here if you’d done more. But no, we’ve lost our place, and had to move back in with our brothers!” Chase turned around in order to keep his emotions in check, and JJ scribbled on his notepad.

**Chase. Do you want me to get the Doc?**

A soft smile crossed Chase’s face, and he shook his head.

“No, James. The mirror’s crowded enough already. Let’s try to understand what’s going on.” JJ nodded, and conveyed the message to Jackson. The reflection then wrote the message down and showed Brody.

“Sure, Jameson. I want to get back to bed.”

2:15 am.

Chase yawned, then scratched his neck. He stretched, resting his hands on the ground beside him, where they had all been sitting down. They had been trying to work out what was going on for over two hours, but always ended up reaching a dead end. JJ had fallen asleep, head resting on Chase’s lap.

Chase placed a hand on his youngest brother’s head, looking at his peaceful face and remembering when he used to do the same to his children. Swallowing back tears, he took a swig of whiskey and faced Brody.

“Alright. So we’ve crossed out Anti, because he doesn’t have the power to do this. We’ve ruled out the rest of the family. JJ can’t do this to himself, he can only join us in the present. And he didn’t even know what was going on.” He made little crosses beside the names on the notepad.

“So, this just leaves Jack and the community. Jack created us, but he wouldn’t be able to break time. And the community… that’s 15 million people who could have done something.” Brody ran a hand through his hair and looked at Jackson, writing on his own notepad.

“Bro, make that almost 21 million.” Chase felt JJ move in his sleep, and placed a reassuring hand on his back.

Brody’s eyes widened, and Jackson dropped his pen.

“That makes things even harder now. 21 million people who we know barely anything about.” He shook his head, taking his hat off and setting it beside him. Chase and Brody rested their heads in hands, sinking into deep thought.

A noise in the kitchen alerted them both. Glitches could be heard near the fridge. Chase peered through the darkness, trying to make out the figure. A green glow reflected off the fridge.

“Anti, I thought you were asleep.” Gently lifting Jameson’s head and lowering it to the floor, he stood up and headed to the kitchen.

“F̡o͞ur hou̕rs ͡is ҉en̨o̢u҉gh͘ ͘slee̴p͠ ̕for me͏,” the glitch argued, pulling out a block of chocolate from the fridge. Chase sighed, signalled to the reflections that he’d be back, and headed to the kitchen.

“Anti, we’re trying to get you to sleep longer than four hours. You also shouldn’t eat chocolate if you can’t sleep; it might make you more hyperactive than you already are.” Anti shrugged, taking a bite from the chocolate.

“'S͟leȩp̢ i͠s̶ ͟f̨or̴ ̢th͟e̵ w͝ea͞k’, ͜a̛s ̡the c͜ommu̴ni̛t̨y'̶s fav͏ourit̵e BO͠Y s͢ay̕s͏,” he retorted, mouth full. As Chase watched, a glossy photograph glitched into his hand. Upon closer inspection, Chase realised it was a photo of his family: Stacey and the kids included.

“W-w-where’d you get that photo, Anti?”

The glitch’s maniacal chuckle echoed in his head. “You're̶ ̶st̷ill̕ su̴ch an̢ id͜i͏ot. ͜Fo̢r҉g͝o̧t͟ţen I͏ ̵t͏a̧r͡get҉ed̶ yo̕u ҉ear̶l̷y̷ tḩi̛s̨ ͘y͏ear͘?͜ ̸I f͡o҉u͞n͝d p͏ict̢u̢ręs҉ ͠o̴f e̶veryo͘ne.͟” A chill ran down Chase’s spine, and he reached out to grab the photograph. A split second before he got it, though, it glitched away.

Helpless, Chase dropped his hands. He took a deep breath.

“Anti, can you answer some questions for me?”

“L͏i͝ke what?” The chocolate had disappeared; only static remained in his hand.

“James went downstairs and saw the past version of himself. What do you know about the past coming into the present through mirrors?” Anti scoffed.

“T̵he̴ ͡past? H̡a͝,̧ ͡l͢ik̢e I͏ ̢care ̡a̕b͏o͏ut ҉t̸he͢ ͏p̕ast̡.͏” Chase rubbed his head. _This guy is such a headache._

“The past is supposed to stay in the past, Anti. It shouldn’t be in the present.”

“Yo͟u̕'̨v̸e onl̢y se͝en ͞t̕h̷e ͠pas̶t͘ ͝da̧ppe̶r̶ bo͝y̨ a҉n͏d you͡rself,͡ so͜ ̛wh͢y ar̴e y͡o҉u ̡dr̕a̸ggin͝g̵ ͠me ͟i͘nto th͏is?”

“You managed to corrupt James in his video. You’ve travelled to the past. I want to see if you can help us.” Anti picked up a knife from the drawer, inspected it, then looked at Chase.

“A͏s̡k̕ H̢I͘M͞ or th҉e̢ bl̵in͞d f͘o͝llo̢we҉r͡s͞. ̸I̢'̧m͘ going upst̡air͏s͞.” With that, he glitched out of sight. Chase heard his room door close and sighed.

Brody and Jackson were still sitting at the mirror when Chase returned. He resumed his position beside JJ and patted his brother’s shoulder lovingly.

“So, I asked Anti for help – a terrible decision – and he told me to ask Jack or the community. I don’t know what to do.” He looked down at JJ, the brother he knew so little about.

“Hey, bro. Let’s try asking Jack. We can’t reach out to the community as we’re supposed to just be ‘characters’, but Jack will listen.” Brody placed a hand on the glass, a kind smile on his face. Chase returned the smile and nodded. Tilting his head, he listened for any indication that Jack was still awake. The house was silent.

“I’ll ask him tomorrow. I think he just got to sleep. You should too; We’ll find you.” Brody and Jackson nodded, then stood and headed out of sight. Chase sighed, stood, and lifted JJ. _Heavier than the kids, but it’s nice to do this again._

He laid JJ in his bed, removed his vest and bowtie, and tucked him in. Putting JJ’s hat by his bed, Chase softly placed a kiss on his forehead and left the room. He didn’t close the door fully, knowing JJ preferred to sleep with the door open.

He returned to his room and put his cap down. Sitting in his bed, he picked up an old photo frame. _Oh, kids. I miss you._ Tears welled in his eyes and he wiped them away. Curling up with the photograph under the covers, Chase sobbed himself to sleep once more.

JJ was woken by the sounds of German song. He rubbed his eyes and got out of bed, forfeiting his usual waistcoat. He could hear Marvin’s narration of a trick echoing upstairs, and Anti’s laughter ricocheted off the walls.

“Jameson! Velcome to ze morning!” Schneep’s friendly greeting relieved any tiredness JJ may have still had. He sat at the table and was immediately served a steaming plate of pancakes.

“Eat up, good friend. Ze pancakes vill not be hot forever.”

“Jamie… awake?” JJ looked up from the pancakes to see pale eyes peering at him from under dark hair. Robbie. He nodded, raising his hand to tip his hat, only to remember he didn’t put it on.

He lowered his hand and signed a ‘good morning’ to Robbie, who slowly read the sign and attempted a smile. Sluggishly, he picked up a fork and reached across the table to steal one of JJ’s pancakes.

“Eat cakes. Robbie have Jamie cake?” JJ picked up a pancake and lovingly put it on his undead brother’s plate. He looked around, then signed to Schneep.

“Chase has not voken up yet. You could go check on him if you vish?” JJ nodded, pushing his plate across to Robbie, who almost lost an eye in joy.

“Here, Jameson. Bring Chase a plate of pancakes. And see if Jack has voken up yet.” JJ took a plate and headed back up the stairs.

“James. Hello. Have you eaten yet?” Chase had already gotten dressed when JJ opened his door. He took a pancake and stuffed it in his mouth.

“Letsh go shee if Jacksh up yet.”

Knocking on Jack’s door, they heard him mumble.

“Hey, Jack. Are you awake yet?” The door opened a crack, and a blue eye peered out. Seeing Chase and JJ, the door opened wider.

“Mornin’ guys. What’s wrong?” He motioned for them to come in, and sat in his chair.

“Jack, we need your help. Jameson saw some weird shit in the mirror last night, and we need to reach out to the community about it.” Jack listened to everything Chase said with a furrowed brow, occasionally turning to interpret JJ’s hand signs. When Chase had finished, he stood and paced for a few seconds.

“So, you’re telling me either the community or – god forbid – _I_ managed to break time somehow by mentioning JJ in a recent video? Like, the past versions of you are in the mirror downstairs, and it’s because – time is _broken_? Have you asked Anti if he did it?” Chase nodded, and told Jack what Anti had said overnight.

Jack nodded, then opened his door and yelled,

“Anti, get your ass in here!” Anti instantly glitched into the room, knife in hand.

“W̕hat? Wh͘at͡'̡d ͠I do no̕w͟?” He turned and, upon seeing Chase and JJ, rolled his eyes.

“J͏a̛c̕k, te̸ll̸ ͞me y͝o̕u'̡re no̸t b͞lam̢i͘ng̸ me for ͞t̵h̡is̴ who͘le ‘̵t̸ime is ̶br͠oke̷n҉'͠ shi҉t.” He crossed his arms and glared at Jack.

“Well, Anti, I just need to cover all the bases. Have you messed with anything recently?” Anti shrugged, running a finger along the knife blade. When nudged by Chase, he sighed.

“I̷ c͠an’t ̷bri̕n̛g̛ ͘thing͏s from th͡e ͠past̸ ̕in͘tơ th҉e͢ ̵pres̡en͢t͜,̢ ̛o͜k̷?̢ A͡nd you͜'̡ve͏ ҉be͟e͏n ҉t̢el̵li̕ng me̕ on͏ly͟ me̢ss͏ ̴a̶bo̢ut ͘w͢hen̕ ̴yo͝u̧ ̸s͘a̵y͏,̧ so͘ w͜h̶y ̶woul̵d I g͠o͜ aga͢i̷n͢şt̴ th̷at? ͟The͜ ͘ǫn͜l̢y̸ ̷m̕e͘şsin̢g ar̡o̵u̶nd͜ ̢I̵’ve ̸done ͟įs͞ ͞stea͢l҉ c͞h͏oco̷lat͝e l͞a̕st͞ ̶n͠i͘ght̨.” JJ gasped, then wagged a finger in front of Anti in disapproval.

“James. The chocolate was old, dude. It was about time someone ate it,” Chase chided. Jack scratched is beard in thought, then turned to Anti.

“I’ll let you off the hook this time. You can go back to doing whatever you were doing.”

“F̛uc̵king accu͝sati̕o̡ns.͏” Anti’s last words sounded in their heads as he glitched out. Jack pulled out a notepad and handed it to JJ.

“Tell me everything. Don’t leave out a detail. I’ll do some poking around.” JJ nodded, and began to write. For the next few minutes, the only sounds heard were the sounds of JJ’s pencil scratching paper and Jack eating pancakes.

Days passed. Jack spent hours in his room, just searching for clues. Every so often, he would call Chase in to discuss what he’d found. JJ stayed at the mirror, swapping theories with Jackson and Brody. When he fell asleep, Chase would carry him to bed and tuck him in.

The other egos didn’t ask what was going on. Jackie could sense something was wrong and that they didn’t want to rope everyone else in, so he kept the others away. Robbie wanted to help JJ, but he didn’t know what was wrong. He would bring things to him in attempts to gain his attention, but to no avail. JJ just sat in front of the mirror, scrawling on his notepad, oblivious to Robbie’s gifts.

Eventually, Jack descended the stairs in excitement. He ran to the mirror and tapped the surface, narrowly avoiding JJ. The mute just stood up and listened to Jack in response. A young man with incredibly short brown hair appeared beside Jackson and Brody.

“I’ve found the source. I know why you’re all here.” He triumphantly held up his phone.

“It was partially my fault, but the community fuelled the issue. I brought JJ into the present again with the Akinator video, and the community used it to make theories. I think somehow it brought you guys here too.” Brody tilted his head, considering Jack’s theory.

“I like your theory. But, how can we reverse this? We don’t want to be here as much as you don’t want to see us.”

Jackson scrawled onto his full notepad, making a small suggestion.

**_We can either try using cameras or Jameson and I can attempt to erase this. I can try reversing the events of these past days on my side, and Jameson can try the same._ **

Brody read the scrawl, then nodded. He turned and looked at Jack.

“Call Chase. Let’s try this.”

“So, if this works, we will just go back to 12:38 am last week? Everything that’s happened will disappear? James, I’m not sure this is the best thing.” Chase scratched his head in confusion.

**Chase, it’s the only way to fix time. We’ll still remember everything, if that makes you feel better.**

“I guess. Let’s just do this.” He crossed his arms and forced his trademark smile.

**Jack, I’m sorry we roped you into this.**

Jack smiled and patted JJ’s shoulder. The comforting pat gave JJ confidence and he smiled. Slowly he pulled out his pocket watch and looked at Jackson.

With a nod, both focused and snapped their fingers. The quietest of clicks echoed through the room, and light began to emanate from JJ’s watch.

12:38 am.

JJ opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of his room over his head. _Did it work?_ He got out of bed and walked downstairs, buttoning his waistcoat as he went.

Someone was already there, staring at the mirror, cap in hand.

“It’s me. Just me. No past versions, no tricks.” Chase turned and looked at JJ.

“It worked, James. You fixed time.” JJ nodded slowly, then stepped into Chase’s outstretched arms.

“Hey, you two. Jameson, good job.” They stopped their embrace at the sound of Jack’s proud voice from the landing. He looked tired, leaning on the banister in his PMA sweatshirt and sweatpants. His hair was scruffy and fell over his blue eyes like a curtain. Chase’s spirits rose at the sight of Jack’s kind smile.

2:15 am.

Jameson sat in front of the mirror, notebook in hand. He was inspecting the mirror and his watch intently, writing down his observations. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt that something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t figure it out.

When Robbie came downstairs half an hour later, JJ was asleep. The zombie wandered over to his brother, poked him in an attempt to wake him, then curled up beside him like a cat. Robbie couldn’t quite understand what was happening, but he had woken up with a ‘nightmare’ and looked for JJ, who wasn’t in his room. He felt safe now, and comfortable beside his mute brother.

“Hey, Jameson? It is time to vake up.” JJ woke with a stiff back being awoken by Schneep. Robbie had disappeared; he had gone outside to find butterflies to give to JJ. He turned and realised he wasn’t in bed, then sat up. He signed ‘what happened’ to the doctor, who shrugged.

“I vould not know, dear friend. You vere asleep ven I came down to make breakfast. Vould you like to help me?” JJ rubbed his eyes and nodded, accepting the doctor’s hand up. Removing his waistcoat and hanging it on the dining chair, JJ rolled up his sleeves and followed Schneep to the kitchen.

Checking the time on his watch, he gasped and put it away in shock.

“Jameson? Are you alright?” JJ nodded and rubbed his head.

He could have sworn he saw Jackson reflected in the glass of his watch, smiling at him…


End file.
